Have you ever heard of the book "A Southern Belle Primer, or Why Princess Margaret Will Never Be a Kappa Kappa Gamma." Its a look at Southern life and customs. There is an entire chapter in it on Rush, and the lengths people go to for their daughters to be a Kappa, a XO, a Theta, or Pi Phi. It talks about how some mothers make their daughters go to schools that have less selective KKG chapters to pledge and be initiated, and then transfer to Auburn, LSU, UT, Ole Miss, etc.
And yes, the New Orleans social strata plays a big part in Rush at LSU. While a lot of the girls from the old line families don't attend LSU, the ones that do go KKG. Its just understood. If you read the debutante bios in the paper every August, you'll see that the girls for that season are all Kappas, and a few are XOs.
When I rushed, I was prepped by the mother of a friend who had rushed the year before. She sat me down and told me that I had a tiny chance of being accepted into certain chapters because of my hometown. She told me what was realistic to hope for. She also helped me figure out what to wear, told me the big no-nos (panty hose and open toed shoes), etc. Her daughter had been burned the year before, because she was a legacy to a chapter, and at pref, they promised her a bid, and then she didn't get one. I know a member of that chapter who denied that they dirty rush like that...but I believe it. I don't know why its so cutthroat, honestly. There are more than enough girls to fill the houses. But it seems that each chapter only wants the youngest, prettiest, perkiest girls in the easiest majors. The better sororities have more education majors as opposed to engineering majors - after all, gotta keep their GPA up...
|